Another Pinterest Inspired Project!

Lately, I have been addicted to making stuff out of things I already have and leftovers from other projects. I think it's a great way to clean out things I can before the New Year begins! With that in mind I made a pair of adorable little leggings for Aubree the other day after seeing these pants on Pinterest awhile back:

Source: makeit-loveit.com via Dori on Pinterest

While they follow pretty much the same "pattern" as most other tutorials to make baby pants/leggings, I liked the cute reverse applique, as it was one of those simple things that I probably never would have thought of on my own!

I have a TON of old t-shirts since my sister and I recently cleaned out our closets and anything that was stretched out or stained or not worthy of donation has made its way into my stash. One of those was a shirt my sister had probably held onto since middle school. I don't have any "before" pictures, and I am horrible at taking progress pictures. (I get in the zone and forget!) Here is my version before I put the waistband on:

And here is my chunky monkey trying them on for the first time:

I decided not to add any ruffles or "flair" to the bottom, as I think the print itself is busy enough. I just used the bottom of the t-shirt to be the bottom hem and it worked out wonderfully I think.

I apologize for the "deer in the headlights" look and the blurriness of the photo. Still need a digital camera, but my iPhone will have to do for now. Aubree is at that stage where I can't get her to sit still for a picture unless she can see herself on the screen-- and that usually results in funny faces anyway ;) The pants do seem to ride up a bit on the inseam, so next time I will have to remember to add a bit extra, but overall I am quite pleased as this was my first time attempting pants! (I did make a pair of boxer shorts for my mom in high school but that.... is another story!

I-Spy Quilts

Over a year ago, I decided I wanted to make an I-Spy quilt for Cullen. Earlier this year, I participated in a swap for I-Spy quilt squares, which left me with 200 different squares! How awesome!
As I started sketching out ways to arrange them (with sashing or without? 9 patches based on background color?), I realized that I had enough to make TWO! So I began separating the definite boy squares and girl squares, then divided the gender neutral ones. Borders and appliqued names later, here are the finished quilt tops:
I have Aubree's quilted, straight lines on either side of the seams of the squares, but I still need to do the borders. I hope to get Cullen's basted and started on the quilting tonight. I somehow lost the FMQ foot for my machine, so I need to order another one, since I planned on doing FMQ on the borders. Unless any of you have other suggestions? I thought about just doing diagonal lines evenly spaced, but I don't really want to quilt THROUGH the names :-/

Still Alive!

I am definitely still here, and I am going to try to get back into blogging on a regular basis. I got extremely overwhelmed this summer and fall with school, the kids, work, and trying to keep up with the swaps I had signed up for before everything hit the fan! I also want to completely redo the look of the blog, but with my lack of know-how, time, and talent, it may be awhile.

I am still sewing and quilting, of course, with some great stuff to show coming soon, including I-Spy quilts for each of my kiddos.

And I can't believe how big they are getting! I came to the realization the other day that I no longer have babies anymore. Cullen is now 3, talking up a storm, counting to sixty by himself, and to ten in Chinese and Spanish, as well as many other words in Spanish. Aubree is walking, learning her body parts, and starting to talk. I want them to stay this size forever!

Stay tuned, though, I will have more coming!

Some swap updates :)

First, as I stated the other day, May was my month for the Let's Bee Together Bee... I was a little late getting my fabric out, so the blocks are still coming in. I am THRILLED at what I have received so far!

These are from (top L-R then bottom L-R) Charlene, Linda, Toni, Jadie, Erin, and Debra. Aren't they fantastic together?

I guess that means I need to decide what I am going to do for "my" block. I have already decided I will probably sash the blocks in a dark brown, and add a piano keys border with all the scraps I have gotten back. How does that sound?



Also, I have still been participating in the Inchy Hexagon Flower swap. These are the hexies I have received so far. I apologize that I don't have a list, some people didn't sign them and I didn't keep the envelopes (which I wish I had noticed they weren't signed so I could have written on the back of them :/ ) I still haven't decided what I want to do with them, but I think maybe a few throw pillows would be nice when I finally get my own place again!!


I do have some more stuff to share, but I will save some for Thursday! In the meantime, it has been awhile so I will share these two of the (not) babies!Aubree is now 9 months old, and walking short distances. She says "mama" "dada" and "cullen" (no, really, if she can't see or hear him, she stands up, looks around, and says "cuh-en! cuh! cuh-en!") She is such a happy and cuddly baby--way different than the colicky baby she was for the first two months!
And my handsome little man, Cullen, is now almost 3! He amazes me everyday with how much he learns. Oh what I wouldn't give to be 2 again, and amazed at everything I see! Everytime we go outside, he says "Look mom! A tree!" and when we get to my car he says "Jorie's car!" (Yes, we still haven't gotten over him using my first name). He can almost count to 20 (he does it perfect with help... on his own he gets to 13, and then says 12..13...12...13...12...13... TWENTY!!! hahaha), knows all his upper and lower case letters, and is learning how to write them and what sounds they make. Thanks to "Super Why", one of the only tv shows he gets to watch, he also can read/recognize quite a few short words. I am sure all moms do this, especially at this age, but I ask myself every day how I got so lucky to have such great babies. Cullen is (usually) such a great big brother, and while he is super rambunctious and likes to play fight, if he gets rough, he will stop and say "booboo!" and give me a kiss, a hug, and ask if its all better hahah! He barely sits still, and when he does, I usually get pictures like this:

Hehe! Hope everyone has a great week! I must get off and finish my homework, tomorrow is my long day (school AND work), so from 1130am when I leave to drop the kids off, until 3am Thurs morn I am out and about :( Boo!!

♥ Jorie

Make a List Monday--On Tuesday

Surprise, Surprise, I know...
Yesterday I took a MUCH needed and well deserved "Girly Day" to pamper myself! A good friend of mine recently moved back to town (we went to high school together years ago in Missouri, and now both live here in Texas), and she is a licensed cosmetician--and great at it too! She really has a knack for style of any type. She offered to give me a makeover, and here's what happened.

Before:
Hair is long, but unhealthy (from bleaching the black and red I decided to put in it last year) and unevenly colored, as only the fresh, healthy hair at the top holds dye.

After:
About three inches off the bottom (should have taken off a bit more, but I was hesitant to lose too much overall length!), evened out the brown (a few shades lighter than my natural color), and added bright red lowlights. She even decided to curl it and do my makeup. I love it!

Amazing what a little change could do for a girl's self-esteem!

Then today, we got our family Christmas pictures taken! I won't post them all, but you can see them on Flickr if interested!

I made the mistake of scheduling the appointment for right after Shaine's workday ended. I thought it would be convenient to just go straight from work to the studio, but I didn't think about that it would run into dinnertime and Cullen would get fussy :( And of course, it was the one time I forgot to pack a snack while out and about.

So now that you know why my list is late, here is last week's:

1. Make progress on the quilt I was commissioned to make. 4/8 blocks done! I forgot to take a picture though, so I will share later this week!

2. Make my flower for Hanne in the Inchy Flower Swap Done! I need to get it in the mail ASAP though!

3. Finish the gifts for my sister Not done yet :(

4. Make some more self-binding receiving blankets/burp cloths Also haven't gotten to it!

5. Wrap up my package to my PTS4 partner and send it off (with lots of goodies!!) Done today! I know it wasn't done by Monday, but it was done before the list was updated, so I consider it a victory!

And so for this week:

1. Send off Hanne's flower!

2. {TRY TO} Finish my sister's gifts

3. Finish at least 2 more blocks for the quilt

4. Make Block 4 of the LCQA (I might attempt that one tonight)

And I think that's it for pressing stuff. I should be able to get it all done, as I have some extra days off this week! I hope everyone is making good progress on their Christmas projects! I have definitely learned why people start worrying about them in the Summer! Lesson learned!

Make a List Monday #5

Number five already? The weeks are really flying by. It is hard to believe the my little girl is almost three months already. OH and look, she's holding her own bottle already:

And her cute dress she wore today:
(My apologies for the horrible picture quality, but it was one of those "If I don't get this now, I'll never get it again", so the iPhone had to do!)
She is just getting so big so fast. She is already in 6m clothing *sigh*, and to think I thought I had enough clothes handed down to us to last at least the first 9-10 months....

Well, without further adieu (as I still have to cook dinner--sloppy joe's tonight!, and hopefully finish quilting the PTS4 pillow so I can share finished pictures, or at least another sneak peek tomorrow), here was last weeks list:

1. Finish my pillow for the PillowTalk Swap. I am ALMOST done with the front, I just have to get some thread in the right color for the quilting. Then some scraps to practice whether I want to do a zipper or an envelope backing, as I have never done the envelope. So if any of you make throw pillows, feel free to share your favorite tutorials for either method!--- This one is almost done. I have just a little more quilting to do, then the envelope backing (which I decided on due to being unable to find an invisible zipper in the right color, and being too impatient to wait to order one)
2. Make a mug rug. Yes. I first thought I wouldn't have a use for it in my house, but more and more as I see these rings on my glass coffee table, I realize we have no coasters and maybe a mug rug would make it so I don't have to break out the windex several times a day! Yes, I did make one! I love it! I made it to coordinate with the pillow, however, as sort of a way to test out how I wanted to quilt the big pillow (in case I messed up or I hated it!), so it won't be staying here. Still counts as a finish, though, right?
3. Go pick out some fabrics for a quilt I have been commissioned to do (excited about this one!) Hadn't been able to do this one until Saturday, but after not really finding anything that stood out to me, and due to time restraints, I decided I will wait and see if I can find anything at any quilt shops in Kansas City while I am there.

Not bad, 1.5/3 finishes.

Okay, who am I kidding, that's only half... In my defense, though, the quilting is going to look really awesome, and I have somehow squeezed it and the mug rug in between naptimes and after clocking more than 44 hours in at work this week! My list for this week is even simpler--

1. Enjoy a family Thanksgiving in Kansas City. We leave home on Wednesday for the 13+ hour drive to Kansas City! First road trip with both kids, and hopefully they do well... Now that Cullen is over 2, though, FLYING anywhere as a family is almost out of the question-- Would you rather pay approximately 200$ in gas round trip, or twice that amount per person times 3 people? I thought so. Although, this one is a bit more complex than it sounds since in order to get there and enjoy I must do a ton of laundry, get the oil changed, pack four bags, etc.... *sigh*

2. Squeeze in some time to check out some quilt shops while in Kansas City. Who knows, maybe some will have Black Friday sales! I know Green Fairy Quilts is planning a great sale for those of you who love to shop for their Moda precuts online (wink wink!) Meanwhile, if any of you have ever been to Kansas City or the surrounding areas (Shawnee, Basehor, or Leavenworth is where I will be spending time), and can recommend a quilt shop or to, please do share!

Fall fun!

You know you have quilting on your mind when normal things remind you of something you want to try. Although I have been walking into this kitchen more times a day than I can count for almost a year, I never really noticed the tile...

Snowball blocks!
Also, Cullen has these super neat alphabet flashcards, and he likes to bring them to me so I can tell him what letter it is. This one made me giggle:

I shouldn't be surprised. After all, I can't think of THAT many words that begin with the letter Q and could be used in a flashcard like this. Either way, it made me smile!

It has been a busy weekend, but I am hoping to escape for a few hours tonight to get some sewing done. Shouldn't be a problem, since I took the kids out of the house to let Shaine have some uninterrupted guy time on our big screen for the football game. I did do two new applique shirts this weekend for our family trip to the pumpkin patch. I am horrible at remembering to take pictures BEFORE I put them on my kids, but you can sort of see them in this horrible iPhone picture.


Also, here are a few more pictures from the pumpkin patch

Hope everyone else is enjoying this season as much as we are!

Finished Botany Quilt

I know I promised these pictures days ago, but this has been a drill weekend, so Shaine has not been able to make it home before dark to help me hold it up and take a decent picture outside. I ran out to the backyard to snap this one before the sun went down.

It was made using this tutorial from Piece N Quilt. While I love my finished project, I now wish I hadn't opted out on the ric rac! I used contrasting brown thread to quilt, which looks cool on the brown back, but stands out a bit TOO much on the front. Ahhh well, I like it anyway, and it's staying here with us!

See? Aubree loves it already!

A little preoccupied...

It is so hard to believe that it has already been TWO WEEKS since our little Aubree arrived.

Cullen has adapted quite well, and asks to hold her alot. I have to take lots of little "Mommy and Cullen" breaks throughout the day or he gets a little rambunctious, but I like that he now wants to be held and cuddled again!

I haven't gotten a whole lot of sewing done (obviously!), but I have ALMOST finished a quilt top for a Christmas lap quilt I am making, and a little dress for a friend's daughter who will be two in two weeks. Pictures will come soon!

Meanwhile, I am participating in the Brown Bag Quilt Contest, and I finally settled on my fabric choices to send off, so Monday I will be heading to the post office to mail it off to Canada :) How exciting :)

Welcome Aubree!

Well, Aubree Cadence is finally here, and although we have been home since yesterday afternoon I just haven't felt like being on the computer much. It was a rather quick and uneventful labor (in fact, I slept through most of it once they gave me some IV meds!) and she was born at 12:40pm on Friday.

Cullen didn't quite know what to think of her at first, resorting instead to being loud and rambunctious... He's still in a show-off mood most of the time, but he's very gentle and caring. If she fusses he goes over and says "Hey! Hey Baby! Shhh!" and pats her belly.

Although Shaine shrugged it off when I told him the other day she would have him wrapped around her finger, he is completely enamored with her.

She looks so much like Cullen did (only a bit chubbier) that all I can think of is how fast she is going to grow!